CONTROVERSIAL plans for an integrated waste management centre near Scorton are expected to be approved today, even though an alternative site near Thirsk has been suggested for investigation by a Government inspector.

The decision will end two years of debate and disagreement between Scorton villagers, other interested parties and the Northallerton-based company Yorwaste.

The county council says that a decision on a tip and recycling centre is needed soon because existing sites are rapidly filling up.

A public inquiry into a draft local waste plan, was launched in June, and its conclusions will be published today.

Those findings will state that the county council should thoroughly examine the size and scale of the area needed for landfill in the northern part of the county.

The inspector reported that the county council should consider Tancred Quarry near Scorton only after assessing whether Asenby Quarry, near Thirsk, could meet the need for additonal landfill in the northern half of the county.

It also calls on the county council to consider objections raised to the Tancred Quarry allocation.

But Mike Moore, county council environmental services director, says that the Government advises that planning applications should not be delayed unnecessarily and that the main environmental consultees have raised no objections to the Scorton scheme.

He concludes that permission should be given because there is an overriding need for the development and there are no alternative methods available for treating the waste.